They leap from helicopters or speeding boats, bringing aid to swimmers who get into trouble off Italy’s popular beaches.
For these dog lifeguards, the doggie paddle (狗刨式游法)does just fine.
These “lifedogs” tow a buoy(救生衣) that victims can grab, or a raft they can sit on to be towed back to shore, and unlike their human counterparts(与对方地位相当的人), they can easily jump from helicopters and speeding boats to reach swimmers in trouble.
With millions flocking(人群) to Italy’s crowded beaches each summer, the Italian Coast Guard says it rescues about 3,000 people every year — and their dog helpers are credited with saving several lives.
It takes three years for the canines to reach expert rescue status, and currently 300 dogs are fully trained for duty, said Roberto Gasbarri, who co-ordinates the Italian School of Canine Lifeguards program at a centre outside of Rome in the seaside town of Civitavecchia.
“Dogs are useful in containing the physical fatigue(疲劳) of the lifeguard, to increase the speed at which casualties(遇难者) are retrieved(找到并衔回), to increase the security of both the casualty and of the lifeguard,” Gasbarri said.
The Civitavecchia centre is one of a dozen around the country for the school founded more than 20 years ago in the northern province of Bergamo by Ferruccio Pilenga, whose first trainee was his own Newfoundland.
The school will train any breed(品种), as long as they weigh at least 30 kilograms, but Labradors, Newfoundlands and golden retrievers are most commonly used because of their natural instinct for swimming. Each dog works in tandem with(同 ……合作) a human lifeguard, who also acts as the animal’s trainer.Which of the following can act as the best title fo the passage?
A.Dogs to the Rescue | B.Dogs Are Good at Doggie Paddle |
C.The Wonderful Performance of Dogs | D.Dogs: Our Loyal Friends |
What advantage do these life-dogs have over human lifeguards in a rescue?
A.Dog can swim very fast | B.Dogs can finish rescue work with ease. |
C.Dogs can finish the great work free of charge. | D.Dogs can easily be trained |
Which of the following is TRUE about the Civitavecchia center according to the text?
A.Any breed can be trained there. |
B.The ones who have the gift for swimming are welcomed. |
C.After a better training, the dogs can work alone. |
D.It is the only place for training dog lifeguards in the school. |
What does the writer want to tell us in the 4th paragraph?
A.Without the dog lifeguards, 3,000 people would lose their lives every year. |
B.The buautiful beaches attract millions of people every year. |
C.Dog lifeguards play an important part in a rescue. |
D.Italy is a famous place of interest. |
Fuzhou Road is famous for its book stores.
Shanghai’s City of Books (Nandong)
Address: No. 345, Nanjing Road. E. near Shandong Road N.
Tel: 6322-1557
Opening Hour: 9:30—21:30
It is a branch of Shanghai’s City of Books. It doesn’t sell any foreign language books, but you can buy CDs of computer games and software.
Traffic: Metro Line No. 2 (Nanjing Road E. Station)
Shanghai’s City of Books
Address: No. 465, Fuzhou Road
Tel: 6391-4848
Opening Hour: 9:30—20:30
This is the biggest book store in Shanghai with six floors. Each floor has different kinds of books, but most English books are for Chinese students preparing for exams.
Foreign Language Bookstore
Address: No. 390, Fuzhou Road
Tel: 6322-3200
Opening Hour: 9:00—18:00
You can find many English novels on the ground floor, as well as dictionaries. There is a corner on the ground floor for foreigners who want to learn Chinese.
On the higher floors, you can find some professional books in English. Of course, many of the books are for Chinese students.
Shanghai Culture Commercial Building
Address: No. 355, Fuzhou Road
Opening Hour: 9:00—17:30
This store has a variety of stationery (文具) and painting materials. If you major in painting or art, this is a good place to find professional materials.If you want to buy CDs of computer games, you can get off at ______.
A.Nanjing Road E. Station | B.Shandong Road N. Station |
C.Fuzhou Road E. Station | D.Nanjing Road N. Station |
If your foreign friends want to learn Chinese, you can suggest they go to ______.
A.No. 345, Nanjing Road. | B.No. 465, Fuzhou Road |
C.No. 390, Fuzhou Road | D.No. 355, Fuzhou Road |
From the introduction of the four book shops, Li Hua can buy a drawing-board as a birthday gift for her sister between ______.
A.9:30 and 21:30 | B.9:30 and 20:30 |
C.9:00 and 18:00 | D.9:00 and 17:30 |
People often ask me how I became successful in that six-year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do.
I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to attend the classes. They said it probably really wouldn’t matter. Six years later, I’m a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government and company policies. They neglected(忽视) to do the basic, easy things.
In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing can be summed up in a single word: neglect. It is not the lack of money – banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity – the government continues to offer the most opportunities. It is not the lack of books – libraries are full of books – and they are free! It is not the schools – the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of good advisors. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is neglect.
Don’t do the things which cause us to feel guilty(感到内疚的) and guilt erodes our self-confidence. As our self-confidence reduces, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity goes down, so do our results. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins changing from positive to negative, our self-confidence becomes even less … and on and on it goes.
So my suggestion is that when giving choice of “easy to” and “easy not to”, do not neglect to do the simple, basic, “easy” but potentially life-changing activities.Why did the author become a millionaire in six years?
A.He was a very lucky man. |
B.He didn’t come across difficulties. |
C.He did some basic and easy things. |
D.He set himself long-term life goals. |
The underlined word “erodes” in Paragraph 4 probably means “_____”.
A.changes | B.neglects |
C.weakens | D.exposes |
What is the main reason that some people fail to succeed?
A.They don’t have good opportunities. |
B.They neglect the importance of success. |
C.They lack the government’s support. |
D.They don’t make use of what they have. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
A.Being self-confident works |
B.Nothing can not be neglected |
C.Everything is easy to do |
D.Success is easy, but so is neglect |
Why are so many people afraid to fail? Quite simply because we forget that failure is part of the human life and that every person has the right to fail. Every person is able to fight failure and finally succeed.
Most parents work hard at preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards(标准). When a child finishes making a table, the mother describes it as “perfect” even though it doesn’t stand still. Another way is to blame others. If John fails in science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.
There’s a problem with the two ways. It makes a child unprepared for life in the real world. Young children need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time, and that it’s possible to enjoy a game even when you don’t win. A child often feels terrible, of course, when he is not invited to a birthday party, or is not chosen into a football team. But parents should not say “It doesn’t matter.” quickly. The young should be allowed to experience failure and be helped to come out of it.
Failure never gives people pleasure. It hurts both adults and children. But it can be really good to your life when you learn to use it. You must learn to ask “Why did I fail?” Don’t blame anyone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong and how you can improve. If someone else can help, don’t be shy about asking them. Success just repeats what has been done. It is not as good a teacher as failure. You can learn how to give a good party from an unsuccessful one.How do most parents prevent their children from failure?
A. They give them some presents. |
B. They don’t tell them that they have failed. |
C. They don’t blame others. |
D. They help them to come out of failure. |
Which of the following does a person need to learn when he fails?
A. It’s impossible to enjoy a game if he misses it. |
B. He is the worst of all. |
C. It’s natural not to win a game and no one can win all the time. |
D. His teammates are not good enough. |
Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Learning from Failure |
B. Ways of Preventing Failure |
C. Reasons of Failure |
D. Getting Pleasure from Failure |
There was once a man called Mr.Flowers, and flowers were his only joy in life.He spent all his free time in one of his four glass-houses and grew flowers of every color, with long and difficult names, for competitions.He tried to grow a rose of a new color to win the silver cup (银杯) for the Rose of the Year.
Mr.Flowers’ glass-houses were very near to a middle school.Boys of around thirteen of age were often tempted (引诱) to throw a stone or two at one of Mr.Flowers’ glass-houses.So Mr.Flowers did his best to be in or near his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school day.
But it was not always possible to be on watch at those times.Mr.Flowers had tried in many ways to protect his glass, but nothing that he had done had been useful.He had been to school to report to the headmaster; but this had not done any gooD.He had tried to drive away the boys that threw stones into his garden; but the boys could run faster than he could, and they laughed at him from far away.He had even picked up all the stones that he could find around his garden, so that the boys would have nothing to throw; but they soon found others.
At last Mr.Flowers had a good ideA.He put up a large notice (布告) made of good, strong wood, some meters away from the glass-houses.On it he had written the words: DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE.After this, Mr.Flowers had no further trouble; the boys were much more tempted to throw stones at the notice than at the glass-houses.It was Mr.Flowers’ hope to ________.
A.build glass-houses in his free time |
B.grow the Rose of the Year in a silver cup |
C.win a silver cup for growing a rose of a new color |
D.grow a rose with the longest name |
Boys were often tempted to ________.
A.throw stones at Mr.Flowers’ glass-house |
B.throw stones at Mr.Flowers from their school |
C.be in or near by Mr.Flowers’ glass-houses |
D.play with Mr.Flowers near his glass-houses |
Mr.Flowers stayed in or near by his glass-houses _______.
A.at times when school-boys were walking near them |
B.all the school day when there were no boys about |
C.where he could not be seen by the boys passing |
D.at the beginning and end of the school day |
Mr.Flowers had tried to ______ to protect his glass.
A.be on watch in his free time |
B.ask the headmaster for help |
C.pick up all the stones around his garden |
D.do all the above |
Mr.Flowers’ good idea was to ______.
A.write some words on the glass |
B.put up a large notice to cover his glass-houses |
C.give the boys something else to throw stones at |
D.send for policemen |
Honey(蜂蜜)from the African forest is not only a kind of natural sugar, it is also delicious. Most people, and many animals, like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest(巢)and take the honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. In parts of Africa, though, people and animals unexpected helper一a little bird called a honey guide.
The honey guide does not actually like honey, but it does like the wax (蜂蜡) in the beehives (蜂)finally arrive at the nest, the follower reaches in to get at the delicious honey as the bird patiently waits and watches. Some of the honey, and the wax, always falls to the ground, and this is when the honey guide takes its share.
Scientists do not know why the honey guide likes eating the wax, but it is very determined in its efforts to get it. The birds seem to be able to smell wax from a long distance away. They will quickly arrive whenever a beekeeper is taking honey from his beehives, and will even enter churches when beeswax candles are being lit.Why is it difficult to find a wild bees' nest?
A.It's small in size. |
B.It's hidden in trees. |
C.It's covered with wax. |
D.It's hard to recognize. |
What do the words "the follower" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A.A bee. | B.A bird. |
C.A honey seeker. | D.A beekeeper. |
The honey guide is special in the way .
A.it gets its food |
B.it goes to church |
C.it sings in the forest |
D.it reaches into bees' nests |
What can be the best title for the text?
A.Wild Bees |
B.Wax and Honey |
C.Beekeeping in Africa |
D.Honey-Lover's Helper |